


87 "I saved you a seat"

by allousive



Series: One Hundred Ways To Say 'I Love You' [15]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Boyfriends, Boys In Love, Coming Out, Fluff, M/M, Secret Relationship, there are so many Weasley's, they're so soft, victoire is an icon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-11-26 01:57:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20922275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allousive/pseuds/allousive
Summary: ‘What also happened often was the two of them going off in their old little world, a James and Teddy bubble that made them unaware to anything else going on around them’





	87 "I saved you a seat"

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in like the middle of summer so reading over it just always makes me feel so warm and happy, i just love boys in love. hope u enjoy it x

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_87 “I saved you a seat”_

The sun beat down on James’ head as he soared through the sky on his broom. Despite playing as chaser in this game, he couldn’t let go of his seeker roots and was scouring the skies for a glint of gold to catch his eye. Down on the ground Teddy watched the quidditch match lazily, eyes fixed mostly on the body of James as he zipped around after the quaffle.

It was the 1st of July and the afternoon of the annual Weasley ‘end of school term/beginning of summer’ BBQ and both the sky and the field behind the Burrow were alive with noise. All the cousins who attended were back from Hogwarts and family members who hadn’t seen each other in months were reunited. With everyone there, the number of attendants was up in the mid-20's and yet Molly still managed to make too much food. Despite having no blood relation to the family, Teddy had been an honorary member of the meals since before he could even remember, coming with Gran when he was small and eventually making his own way there.

As soon as everyone had arrived, a quidditch game had started, like it always did, the young versus the old. Harry and Ron zooming around holding Beater’s bats, Charlie defending the goalposts, Lily hovering around looking for the snitch and James, who was always Teddy’s main focus, chasing George, one of the chaser’s of his opposing team.

Teddy enjoyed quidditch, but much preferred watching to playing, especially when it came to a game between the Weasley family, who were the most competitive bunch of people he’d ever met. Besides, if he did play, he never knew what team he should join. At 25, he was the eldest of the ‘kids’, old enough to sit with the adults and talk about his job, but not old enough to reminisce with them about old memories, while also being young enough to run and dive into the lake at the end of the field with the cousins, but not young enough to care about the schoolyard drama of some of the younger kids. It was a confusing position for him to be in, so he mostly said no to the games, letting someone else fill the position that James always offered him first, usually finding himself sitting and chatting with Hermione while they played.

Anyway, from down on the ground he got a great view of the sky above, and could watch James all he liked without raising any suspicion. Suspicion was his arch nemesis, especially when it came down to him and James. They’d finally stopped dancing around each other and began their relationship around 2 months ago, a couple days after Teddy’s birthday, but no one else knew about it yet. The two of them had always been close so no suspicion was raised about them spending time together, they’d always been inseparable. But it was still new and Teddy was desperately trying not to mess things up. He’d wanted James for longer than he’d like to admit and even though he knew James liked him back, the younger of the two had constantly made that obvious, he’d always been scared to reach out and take what he wanted.

The fear of taking advantage was one of the things that kept him away, he was so much older than James, who was only 17 when he made his feelings clear, and he was scared that at 23 he would be overstepping his boundaries. Not to mention the pair of them had been practically raised as brothers, Teddy spending more time with the Potter’s than anyone else once James was born. Teddy was terrified of the judgement they’d receive, he wanted everyone to be happy for them, but how could he know whether or not they would be? What scared him the most though was that James was still young, at 18, nearly 19, James was adamant he wasn’t a kid and that he knew what he wanted. Teddy was sure he did know, but he knew what he wanted for the time being. For Teddy, it was all or nothing with James, but he didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on someone who still had so much changing and growing to do. He hated himself for doubting it, but how could he guarantee that James wouldn’t start growing restless and crave the freedom and spontaneity that came with your early 20’s.

So, they hadn’t told anyone, it had been a mutual decision, James agreeing that it was still fresh and they shouldn’t put too much pressure on it, which Teddy was thankful for, he didn’t want to scare James away with his millions of reasons for being cautious.

“Teddy!” The voice of Hermione broke him from his thoughts, she looked like she’d asked him a question, but Teddy hadn’t been listening at all.

He felt his face heat up as he turned to her sheepishly, “Sorry.”

She smiled at him, shaking her head, “You okay?”

“Yeah, just lost in thought.” He said, trying to dismiss it, it wasn’t something he wanted to air.

“Want to share any of them? It’s good to talk.” Her gaze was astute and it made Teddy feel 15 again, but her smile was warm and loving and he knew she cared.

Hermione was intelligent and sure of herself, she saw everything and everyone and out of all the family members, she was up there as one you definitely did not want to cross. The majority of the cousins were scared of her, but Teddy never had been, she reminded him of his Gran and secretly he thought she had a soft spot for him. When he was about 12, he’d told Ron that he didn’t understand why all the kids were scared of her and he’d laughed and said he didn’t know why either, she was a softie really, Teddy had thought maybe it was just him and Ron who saw her like that, but he didn’t mind.

“No, it’s okay, nothing to worry about.” Teddy told her, trying to smile convincingly.

It really was nothing to worry about in the grand scheme of things, just Teddy’s mind running at a mile a minute. She nodded and turned to talk to Victoire, but Teddy could feel her gaze on him every now and then as he turned back to stare up at the sky.

It looked like the game was coming to an end, Lily and Bill both leant forward on their brooms, chasing after what Teddy assumed was the snitch, but couldn’t see from where he was sat. Teddy watched as Lily moved just in front and reached out, zooming forward before sitting up with her fist clenched shut, smile bright as she span round to Bill’s laughter.

“Yes! The Potter’s are the best quidditch players in the world!” Teddy heard James yell, and turned to look at his boyfriend sat on his broom, looking triumphant as he raced over to his sister and enveloped her in a hug, before slinging an arm around her shoulder and cheering.

Even Albus, who had reluctantly joined in and agreed to play Keeper, was beaming as his siblings made their way over to him, James slinging his free arm around Albus and pulling him close, the matching grins of the Potter children lightening up the already bright afternoon. Down on the ground, the spectating family members were cheering and Arthur had stood up to take a picture, lens focused on the three Potter’s hovering around the goal, James in the middle, looking like the king of the world.

Everything James did, he did with enthusiasm and exuberance and Teddy loved him for it, he was consistently optimistic, even in the worst scenarios he found the good and tried to make everyone see it too. It made Teddy’s heart ache, watching him move around the world with such love. He did everything with ease and never questioned nor queried, just did. Teddy knew he’d never meet anyone like that again, he’d never love someone like he loved James and he’d never be loved by someone in the way James loved. His love was all encompassing, overpowering in the best way possible, if James loved you, you knew about it.

“Alright everyone,” Molly shouted, using sonorous to make her voice heard, “come on down and sit up, food will be ready soon!”

People still idling in the air at the end of the game began flying down, landing on the grass then making their way toward the table, voices loud as they chatted.

“I can’t believe your kids beat us, we used to be champions Harry.” Teddy heard Ron say, laughter in his voice.

“Used to be, are the key words in that.” Ginny said from behind them, laying a hand on her brother’s shoulder.

Ron continued grumbling as he took his seat at the table, opposite Hermione, where he always sat. With so many of them, there was an almost unspoken seating arrangement. Teddy and Victoire were the bridge between the younger and older generation, Teddy sat with Hermione on his right, opposite Victoire, who had Dominique on her right and Ron on her left. No one other than James sat on Teddy’s other side and the one time Lily had tried, James had kicked up such a fuss that Ginny had taken him home, Teddy had felt so bad that he’d cast a stasis charm and took his dessert home for James.

The table was loud as everyone took their seats, but to Teddy it felt quiet, James was still around the other side of the table, laughing with his dad and uncles about something. Teddy probably could’ve joined in on the conversation, but he preferred to just watch James, watch the way his eyes lit up with every joke and a dimple in his left cheek appeared when laughed.

The sun shone down on him beautifully. James was a perfect mixture of his parents, unlike Albus who was all Harry, and Lily who was all Ginny, James was a bit of both. The naturally tanned skin and unruly mess of hair from his dad, and the light brown eyes and freckles from his mum. Freckles were probably his most prominent feature, they covered every square inch of his body, Teddy had seen freckles on parts of James that he didn’t even know could get freckles, and he loved every single one of them.

James looked up and met Teddy’s gaze, eyes filling with fondness as he left the conversation he was in and walked around toward Teddy. Teddy followed him with his eyes, until James was stood behind the chair next to Teddy.

“_I saved you a seat_.” Teddy told him with a grin.

“No you didn’t, you sod, this is my seat, it doesn’t need saving.” James replied, falling onto the chair, legs flung out lazily in front of him, tipping his head back and closing his eyes.

“I saved it anyway.”

James cracked open one eye and smiled at Teddy, his heart flipping in his chest when their eyes met. Sometimes when he looked at him James felt overwhelmed with his love for Teddy, so much so he often didn’t know what to do with himself.

He sat up properly and reached over for the glass of water sitting in front of Teddy, putting it to his lips and drinking it down easily in two gulps.

“That was mine.” Teddy said as James put the glass back down, he acted incredulous but really he wasn’t surprised by James’ actions at all.

“And it was delightful, thank you.” James replied cheekily, nudging Teddy’s knee with his own, then leaving it there, pressing gently against his boyfriend.

They were both in shorts and the feel of James hot skin against his own caused Teddy’s insides to squirm.

“Were you watching?” James asked, talking about the quidditch game he’d just played.

“Of course, Lily was fantastic.” At his words, the girl looked up from where she was talking to Hugo and grinned at Teddy, sending him a cheesy wink.

“And what about me?” James asked, sounding petulant.

Teddy laughed, “You’re always great Jamie, best quidditch player I’ve ever seen.”

Despite the hyperbolic tone of his praise, James preened under it anyway, he loved when Teddy said nice things to him. He never knew how to handle his reactions though, most of the time he wanted to crawl into Teddy’s lap and kiss the life out of him, but at the dinner table in front of their family who didn’t know about them, might be a bit of an inappropriate place to do so. Instead, he moved closer and slung an arm around Teddy’s shoulders, laughing at the mans disgruntled face.

“You’re so sweaty, get off me.” Teddy said, laughing despite the situation as he pushed pathetically at James’ arm, not really wanting him to stop touching him.

James just held on tighter, purposefully wiping his sweaty hands and arms on Teddy. The older of the two was laughing while he tried to wriggle out of James’ grip, eventually he had to resort to jabbing his fingers in the boy’s side, the warning of a tickle, to get him to let go.

“That was unfair.” James said, rubbing at the side where Teddy had poked him.

“And holding me in your sweaty grip was fair? I don’t think so.” Teddy replied, his face hurt from smiling, which happened often when he was around James.

What also happened often was the two of them going off in their old little world, a James and Teddy bubble that made them unaware to anything else going on around them. If they left the bubble, Teddy might have noticed the looks they were getting from Hermione, which would’ve definitely triggered his suspicion button, he also might have noticed the way she was looking at Harry, an eyebrow raised in question.

“All is fair in love and war my dear Edward.” James said, his entire focus on the man in front of him.

His hair was bright in the sunlight, the aqua blue James’ favourite colour, that seemed to be just that bit brighter whenever James was around, which made him love it even more. James loved Teddy more than anything.

“What?” Teddy asked, feeling self-conscious at the way James was staring at him.

“Nothing.” James said, shaking his head and laughing softly.

“Tell me.” Teddy replied, poking James’ thigh.

“Don’t worry, nothing, I’ll tell you later.”

Teddy narrowed his eyes and looked at James, who narrowed his eyes right back, imitating Teddy’s face. He tried not to laugh, but the way James looked made it hard for him not to. They both started laughing at the same time and once they’d stopped, they just stared at one another, smiling as they looked into each other’s eyes.

James took a deep breath and steeled himself, looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to them, but thankfully everyone else was wrapped up in their own conversations, too used to the way James and Teddy were to bother interrupting. Then he looked back at Teddy, who now looked slightly confused, and mouthed ‘I love you’.

Teddy felt his heart stop in his chest, before it began hammering as though it was trying to escape his body and fall straight into James’ hands, where it belonged. He didn’t know how to react, but James was just smiling at him, looking proud of himself and happier than Teddy had ever seen. He wanted to scream his reply, jump up on the table and profess his undying love, he wanted to wrap James up in a kiss and never let him go.

What felt like hours in his mind was only seconds in real time for Teddy to react, he didn’t care anymore, what anyone saw or what anyone thought. He loved James, James loved him and he wanted to kiss him. He couldn’t, he wouldn’t, stop himself from kissing the man he loved.

Teddy reached out for James, cupped both cheeks in his hands and pulled him in for a searing kiss. He wasn’t so unaware of the people around him, so he did try to keep the kiss PG but it was often easy for Teddy to get carried away when it came to James, especially when he made the happy keening noises like he was making right now. Teddy pulled away and grinned at his boyfriend, still holding his face as he moved in to peck him once more.

James face was red with a blush, the pink intermingling with his freckles, his pupils blown slightly wider in a way only Teddy would recognise. He was smiling at Teddy, his one dimple prominent.

A purposeful cough broke their moment, and the James and Teddy bubble, dragging the both of them back to reality and to the fact that the table that had once been so loud, was now silent. Teddy turned to look at Ron, who had just coughed, and felt his face flush scarlet.

“Well, this is new.” George said from his seat further down the table, leaning back in his chair.

James whined quietly and shuffled closer to Teddy, his head falling on the other’s shoulder, instinctively Teddy’s arm came up to wrap around James, holding him closer.

“Doesn’t look that new to me.” Hermione said from next to Teddy, looking down at him with a look Teddy couldn’t quite decipher.

“Yeah, Jay’s fancied Ted since he was about 15, it’s old news.” Albus supplied, jumping at the chance to tease his brother.

“Fuck off Al.” James said, looking up from Teddy’s shoulder to glare at his brother.

Teddy didn’t know what to say or even what to do, so he just held onto James and hoped for the best. He looked up and met Victoire’s eye from across the table, the girl grinning. He wasn’t entirely sure why though, they’d been together once upon a time, and although they were definitely friendly now, he hadn’t expected to see her smiling this wide at the sight of him with someone else.

“Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our James! Our cousin!” She said, mimicking James aged 13 when he’d stumbled upon Teddy and Victoire.

James groaned loudly and the whole table burst into laughter at the memory, even Teddy couldn’t help but grin at the expense of his boyfriend. What she’d said did the trick to break the tension, and once the laughter had died down, natural conversation resumed.

“Oops?” Teddy offered, turning to James with a sheepish smile.

“You absolute prat Edward Lupin.” James replied but he wasn’t angry, he just shook his head and laughed softly.

“It was a good kiss.” Teddy said with a shrug, feeling much better about the situation than he had a minute ago.

James just grinned cheekily, moving away from Teddy and reaching out for his hand, linking their fingers together just as he looked up to see Molly hovering plates of food out the window. Teddy squeezed James’ hand then looked at his plate, not wanting to look up and meet the eyes that he knew he would.

The reaction he feared the most if people found out was Harry’s, the man who’d been a mixture of father and older brother to Teddy his entire life, and the man who was the actual father of his boyfriend. If Harry disapproved it would crush him, so he’d rather be in the limbo of not knowing how he felt. But he couldn’t avoid Harry for the rest of his life, so he just bit the bullet and looked up, meeting the eyes of his godfather.

Harry was smiling softly, but Teddy could read in his eyes that there was a conversation to be had between the two. For the time being though, Harry just nodded and raised his beer to Teddy, before smiling and taking a sip.

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End file.
